MICHELLE WILLARD, Post Staff Writer
Posted: Sunday, September 28, 2008 6:55 am

Rutherford County Election Commission has found a novel way to encourage people to vote with the Promotin’ Votin’ Express.

Elections Administrator Hooper Penuel turned a 1992 Ford Collins 15-passager bus into a mobile voter registration booth to raise public awareness about the importance of taking part in the political process.

“I could see some potential there as a promotional tool, as a tool to register voters,” Penuel said.

Qualifying Rutherford countians have until Monday, Oct. 6, to register to vote in the November election, and registered voters have until Monday, Oct. 27, to update current addresses.

With only a little time left to register, voters are filing in droves with the election commission processing between 250-300 forms a day, mostly from previously unregistered voters.

“We had a 93-year-old lady who came in to register who had never registered before in her life,” Penuel said.

Click here for a list of candidates for the Nov. 4 election.

Since June 30, the commission has added around 4,000 new voters to the rolls, bringing the current total of registered voters to 136,671 as of Wednesday.

Click here for a sample ballot.

That’s more than 26,000 new voters over the rolls for the 2004 Presidential election. At this rate, Penuel estimates more than 140,000 will be registered for the November election.

And Penuel will use the Promotin’ Votin’ Express to sign up as many voters as possible before the final deadline.

The Promotin’ Votin’ Express made its official debut at the 35th annual Old Timers Day in La Vergne last weekend. Penuel even dressed up like Uncle Sam for the event and worked the crowd, shaking hands and signing up new voters.

He found the used bus on Rutherford County’s general surplus property list. It had been used by Oakland High School and needed some minor repairs. So Penuel called up the school, test drove the bus and decided to take it.

Penuel had the bus tuned up and painted in red, white and blue with the election commission’s contact information and the slogan: “Be Smart. Do your part. Vote.” All for a total cost of $1,000, since he had the county transfer the bus from Oakland to the election commission.

The election commission will use the bus as a mobile voter registration booth at countywide events in the next few weeks and use it to transport election supplies to polls on Election Day.

“I think it will serve the county well over the rest of its life,” Penuel said.

Rutherford County Election Commission officers are located at 1 South Side Square, Murfreesboro. Phone: 898-7743 On the Web: www.rutherfordcountytn.gov/election/

Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.